Sailing Taranto

Asking again if anyone has experience re-bushing the pintles and gudgeons on a Lotus 9.2. Does the skeg and rudder come out as one piece? Or can just the rudder be removed to fix. How is it attached? Does anyone have diagrams or plans for these boats? Many thanks in advance. I'm on the hard, trying to get the job done as quickly and economically as possible. Cheers Rick

Cheers Chariot! Funny you should mention the cockpit drains I have been considering that at length this morning, and the engine exhaust. I see your exhaust appears to maybe be coming out athwart-ships on starboard, perhaps? Improving the cockpit drain flow would be an added bonus, and/or at least inhibiting it somehow back filling when the arse drags when sailing over 6 knots. I love my duckboard on the back, serious lifestyle enhancement, but need to somehow attach that old windvane, so thinking over ways of improving many things with one major operation. Not sure the sugarscoop is the full

Here is how Taranto was last time I had her out of the water. Keen to give the bottom a serious birthday when I return, but at least the rust streaks are gone haha

Thank You booboo! Yeah covid has thrown an enormous spanner in the works re any sailing plans, been stuck in Italy for over a couple of years now. Pretty disappointed to say the least with Cindy's treatment of 'us other million' left outside, but wont pollute these pages with that diatribe. I finally won a ticket in the MIQ lotto so heading back in Feb! Making some outrageous plans already hahaha, not least a ton of upkeep on this fabulous yacht. Thanks for your kind words.

Epic. That is such a relief, so they are built to be rebushed Of course they are! Silly me. I can put my mind to all the other failings, smoothing out the bottom, building a sugarscoop on the stern, attaching a windvane, preventing the forehatch leaking, new sails, so many things to work on. Many thanks.

A zoom in...

The bearings are my main reason for removal. There has always been a small amount of movement since I bought Taranto in 2007, and its slowly got worse, I think mostly through solo sailing and lots of tillerpilot usage that seems to work a notch into them. Do you have any photos of your rudder workings? You could email them to support@taranto.nz, or post here of course. Seeing is believing. I'm not so keen to change the setup/shape for performance, just renew the rudder so its good for another 40 years. I have no idea how stuff looks under the years of paint and antifoul etc. The other Nelson 9

I'm interested in this topic too. Anyone have advice on removing the rudder on a Lotus 9.2? There was an owner in Nelson 4-5 years ago who replaced his with a skeg-less blade style model of his own design. I am mostly wondering if the skeg and rubber assembly can be removed from the hull slot as one piece by removing the skeg through removing the bolts inside in the back transom, or were they normally glued/glassed in as well, meaning it would be much easier to just remove the rudder and leave skeg well enough alone. Thank you in advance for suggestions.

Wow! I like that! Can I steal that idea?

That Nelson based Lotus 9.2 mentioned above, seen at Stewart Island and sailing around the South Island in Feb-March 2017 was probably me!! What a buzz that was, both doing the circumnavigation and reading someone had noticed, years later! Cheers Wild Violet. I posted videos of it, search for Sailing Taranto in YouTube. I'll try to post a link to the playlist, but might get into trouble with the administrator here for trying, but here goes... https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZ81Y1nsgnYWAEIIHrbYhEyI8Zc3I-d62